‘I had a really crippling break’: how author Michael Thomas lost 20 years to mania, depression and more

In 2006 the novel Man Gone Down made Thomas famous and won him a €100,000 prize. He expected to produce a follow-up within a year – but life had other plans

Beginning Middle End by Valeria Luiselli review – a mother and daughter’s odyssey

This journey of discovery from the US to Sicily tackles urgent themes, but is increasingly inward-looking

Ian McDonald obituary

Trinidad-born author and poet whose novel The Humming-Bird Tree is a classic of Caribbean literature

Previous winners Douglas Stuart and Marlon James lead Booker prize longlist

Chair of judges Mary Beard said each of the 13 books in contention for the £50,000 award ‘takes the reader to new places’

This Booker longlist may have two previous winners, but it’s keen to experiment

Marlon James, Douglas Stuart and Elizabeth Strout may be names we know, but there’s a welcome element of absurdism and surrealist thought here

Underdogs by Louise Powell review – a powerful debut with plenty of northern soul

A bereaved father and son bond over greyhound racing in an east Durham town in terminal decline

Gaining Ground by Joan Barfoot review – Anne Enright celebrates a landmark feminist novel

Half a century on, this tale of a woman who abandons her children in search of her self remains thrillingly original

Simon Trewin obituary

Literary agent who established the Garage Press and a volunteer-run community education centre

From author to anime hero: the unlikely revival of a Japanese literary star

More than seven decades after they were first released, the dark novels of Osamu Dazai have become a publishing sensation, as a new generation of readers engage with his bleakness, humour and brilliance

Romantasy star Stacey McEwan: ‘You’re not going to recommend Fifty Shades of Grey to your Catholic grandma’

The author and BookTok luminary on the nightmare trope, how to convert a straight man into loving fantasy romance, and words that should never be used in a sex scene

The perfect books for the beach … picked by Freida McFadden, Mick Herron, Robert Harris and more

From a transporting historical saga to a tale of small-town betrayal, the authors of our favourite page-turners reveal the books they take on holiday – introduced by Jenny Colgan

I Made This Just For You by Chris Ames review – absurd satirical takes on the bleak absurdity of modern life

These playful and experimental short stories are set in a distorted but plausible version of our deeply online world – but tenderness is never far

Air by Christian Kracht review – a metaphysical jigsaw puzzle

A portal opens from our modern world of data centres and interior design into a medieval fantasy realm, in this playfully surreal tale from the author of Eurotrash

Venus, Vanishing by Rebecca Birrell review – art, desire and the rise of the Third Reich

This portrait of a Jewish painter in bohemian Berlin is filled with insightful observations

Cool Machine by Colson Whitehead review – final part of the Harlem Trilogy is freewheeling fun

The grit and grandeur of 80s New York drive this rollicking story of an underground wheeler-dealer